There have been several disclosures of wildfowl/turkey decoys that include a turkey tail or remotely movable parts. Animated decoys have distinct, obvious advantages over standard, sedentary decoys. However, previous designs have been prohibitively complex or have not focused on the key component to attracting gallinaceous birds whose tail fan is central to male-female and male-male display. The tail fan, specifically the raising and lowering of the tail fan, is at the center of display. The act and timing of raising and lowering the tail fan communicates rank, signals dominance, and advertises age and fitness.
Several disclosures of decoys include a remotely movable tail, but also include or depend upon a turkey decoy body. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,775,943 (Loughman) discloses a movable turkey tail attached to a stake, remotely operated by the user via a cord. However, this design only produces a side to side motion, it does not produce a raising or lowering motion. Similarly, US2010/0115818 (Rogers) discloses a decoy that utilizes a remotely movable tail fan whose function is dependent upon specific structures of the decoy body, such as a hollow interior, mounting surfaces, and a base connected to the body. Other disclosures such as US2004/0250461 (Dryer), have utilized only a turkey tail fan, but have not disclosed means of attaching the tail to structures other than the rigid stake member, or to multiple structures. U.S. Pat. No. 7,784,213 (Primos) discloses a collapsible fan holder that aides in portability of a turkey tail fan. This device can be attached to a turkey decoy body with movement capability, such as that disclosed by US2010/0115818 (Rogers). U.S. Pat. No. 7,784,213 (Primos) neither discloses a means of attaching such a holder to a remotely movable tail fan stake that can function independent of a turkey body, nor does it disclose a device that could be used to readily detach and attach a turkey tail fan to and from multiple structures.
Other decoys, such as US2008/0078113 (Denny) and US2004/0194365 (Summers), utilize head, neck, body, and tail sections, requiring complex movable parts throughout the decoy to provide motion to the head/neck and tail. Although realistic and likely effective, it is unnecessary, in terms of the effectiveness of the decoy, for the head/neck to move, or for the entire body to have movable parts, or for the decoy to be dependant upon motors or servos for operation. The only motion required for enhanced effectiveness over a static decoy, is raising and lowering of the tail. Certainly, the complexity and cost of such devices outweigh their practicality and effectiveness.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,231,737 (Bradford) discloses a remotely operated tail fan, whose individual feathers move between a lowered position in which the feathers are gathered and a raised position in which the feathers are spread as the result of effort from the user. A spring biases the individual feathers to the lowered and gathered position.
US2004/0250461 (Dryer) discloses a similar invention to Bradford. This design also discloses a remotely operated tail fan with elongated members that spread as the tail rises and gathers as the tail lowers as the result of effort from the user biased against a spring. This design also utilizes a slide and common attachment of elongated supports. The slides of both Dryer and Bradford function as movable load ends. Dryer discloses a weighted slide that moves upon elongated rods. This complex weighted slide is used to raise and lower the tail fan and is required to open and close the tail fan. The slide is attached to a spring, which pulls the weighted slide toward the terminus of the tail, this positioning and weight of the slide causes the lowering and gathering of the elongated members. This design relies heavily upon angle requirements for appropriate weight distribution and functionality. For example, the design requires an angle between members to pull the fan to the upright position, and to lift a point to the level of the pivot point to allow the assembly to move upward from the lowered position. It therefore requires a stop means to prevent the assembly from lowering too far beyond the pivot point.
Similar to Bradford and Dryer, US2010/0115818 (Rogers) also discloses a tail fan with both longitudinal and lateral motion. However, in this disclosure, effort from the user results in a lowered tail fan position. Because spring bias, not effort by the user, supports the tail in the upright position, the tail fan is free to move independent of the user, and this movement, often caused by wind against the open, upright fan, is generally sporadic and unnatural.
Previous disclosures include components that are unnecessary or prohibitively complex and/or rely heavily upon invoking a feather spreading and gathering motions, which do not add to the effectiveness of the raising and lowering motions in a decoying situation. In previous disclosures, the additional motion does, however, add greatly to the complexity and potential difficulty and error in operation, as well as reduces the overall feasibility of the decoys.
Previous disclosures neither provide the opportunity to attach a real turkey tail fan, including tail feathers and connective tissue, that have been removed from a turkey and fixed into an open position, to a structure used for decoying; nor do they provide means of readily detaching and attaching a turkey tail fan to and from multiple structures. A component used to lock a movable tail fan decoy in an upright position also has not been disclosed. This is necessary when the user operates a movable tail fan decoy by hand at the site of the decoy, and when a tail fan decoy is used for cover and the wind precludes the user from attaching a decoy to their weapon.